The present invention relates to satellite communication systems. In particular, the present invention relates to a satellite communication system including a self addressed packet switch that hops a downlink beam between terrestrial cells using a multiple beam array antenna.
Satellites have long been used to provide communication capabilities on a global scale. For this purpose, a satellite includes multiple uplink and downlink antennas, each of which provides communication bandwidth to a large service region using multiple spot beams. The area covered by a spot beam is commonly referred to as a cell, and color coded spot beams are assigned in a pattern called a beam laydown to cover the service region.
Each spot beam provides limited bandwidth. Yet, as a satellite provides additional simultaneous spot beams, the cost, complexity, and power requirements of the satellite increase. Thus, the ability to provide service to a laydown with a large number of cells was limited by prior satellite and antenna design and cost considerations.
Furthermore, prior satellite designs typically operated on a circuit switched basis that directed downlink traffic to cells according to a fixed switching schedule internal to the satellite. With the increasing adoption of terrestrial communication systems that carry data containing its own destination address, has come the need to route such data through a satellite link. Circuit switched satellites, however, were generally too inflexible to route such data.
A need has long existed in the industry for a communication system that addresses the problems noted above and others previously experienced.